Bottle structure



April 22, 1958 A. D. STERGES BOTTLE STRUCTURE Filed June 7, 1957 A L FRED Z2 fTERaEs Arrow/5r -the face of the recess.

United States Patent@ BOTTLE STRUCTURE.

Alfred D. Sterges, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Purex Corporation, Ltd, South Gate, Calif, a corporation of California Application June 7, 1957, Serial No. 664,298

3 Claims. (Cl. 215-1) This invention relates to improvements in bottles equipped with handles, and particularly glass bottles of such size as to render desirable their formation with integrally fused handles at the neck portions of the bottles. The invention has been made to serve various purposes of liquid hypochlorite bleach solution containers and will be described typically, but without limitation, as applied to such bottles with the view toward enhancing the facility, convenience and security with which the bottle can be handled and carried.

Bottles of this type commonly have been made with ring or loop shaped handles fused to neck portions of the bottles, all in a manner such that the bottle is supported largely by suspension from a finger inserted through the loop and the heavy weight of the bottle is concentrated at the small usable bearing area of the handle, often to the discomfort of one carrying the filled bottle. Both the customary form and relation of the handle to the bottle neck, often create potential weaknesses, particularly at the juncture of the handle with the neck, which are desirable to eliminate but can only be minimized to a degree because of the inherent limitations in the sizes, shapes and arrangements usually employed.

The invention has for its general object to depart from conventional practices by a new bottle structure affording greater ease and security in handling and carrying the bottle than has been obtainable in the past. In these respects, the invention makes available a new structural and functional relation between the handle and bottle, whereby the bottle load can be carried by a greater or major width of the fingers, which can be given support against the body of the bottle, as distinguished from the conventional lack of such support when the bottle is freely suspended and supported only from within the loop handle.

structurally, the invention contemplates forming the enlarged shoulder portion of the bottle below the reduced neck, witha recess curving concavely in a vertical plane of the bottle, the concavity preferably starting at the neck portion and continuing to at least a major extent of the maximum radial dimension of the bottle, and desirably to a location at or near the outer surface of the bottle. The recess preferably is also given appreciable concavity transversely of the bottle shoulder, so that the effect of the recess thus shaped, is to present a bearing surface curving concavely in both vertical and horizontal planes. In both directions, however, the recess has a very gradual angular departure from its concavity to assure maximum strength in its emergence into the regular bottle configuration.

The bottle is provided with a handle extending from the neck portion in overlying and spaced relation to the described concavity, the handle preferably being extended downwardly and outwardly so as to have sufficient length to be grasped by the greater width of the fingers, and having such spacing from the recessed bottle shoulder as to permit the back of the fingers to bear also against Thus it is made possible by this relationship of the handle and recess surface of the bottle ice to alford extended finger grasp to the handle weighted by the bottle and its contents, and to stabilize that support by enabling the fingers to bear against the bottle surface. Integration of the handle and recessed body of the bottle, preferably is effected, .and'toparticular advantage in assuring maximum strength of the handle, bymolding the latter integrally With aprojecting ring portion. of the neck, and at a location such that the juncture of the handle with the neck ring is located at or near the upper termination of the aforementioned shoulder recess. It may be mentioned that the particular'handle structure and its association with the neck ring, is dealt with in a co-pending application entitled Glass Bottle Handle Structures, Serial No. 664,299 filed'on even date herewith.

The above-mentioned as well as additional features, 'objectsand advantages of the invention, will be understood more clearly from the following detailed description of certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, shown by the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view showing the .bottle in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation showing the top handle and recessed portion of the bottle as viewed from the right of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation showing a modified elevation between the handle and bottle neck;

Referring to the drawing, the bottle is shown to have a body 10 of circular cross-section, and, typically to be of the type and size customarily employed to contain liquid hypochlorite bleach solution. The lower, generally cylindrical portion of the bottle converges upwardly at shoulder 11 which may be of a usual shape, substantially as illustrated, having a symmetrical and angular extent about the vertical axis of the bottle, preferably in excess of as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Shoulder 11 converges upwardly to the illustrated neck portion 12 of the bottle, the top of which is shown to be threaded'at 13 for reception of a cap, not shown.

The bottle shoulder 11 is interrupted or intersected at one side by concave recess 14 so located as to underly at least the major extent of the latter described handle. As indicated by the dottedline 15 defining the base or innermost surface of the recess 14 as viewed in the vertical plane of line 11 of Fig. 2, the recess has vertical concavity-downwardly and outwardly from the neck portion 12 throughout a major extent of the radial dimension of the bottle, and preferably to a point at or near the cylindrical surface of the body 10 just below the curving extent of the shoulder 11. The recess 14 also preferably is given appreciable concavity in a transverse or horizontal .plane, with the degree of concavity in'this respect being represented by the distance between line 15 and line 16 which defines the outer edge of the recess, as shown also in Figs. 2 and 3. It is to be understood that the boundaries or edges of the recess 14 are not sharply defined but have gradual or smooth mergence with the intersecting surface of the bottle shoulder 11. The recess 14 is shown to have less than 180, but suflicient angular extent about the vertical axis of the bottle, to provide ample bearing surface for engagement by the hand grasping the handle as will presently appear.

The bottle preferably is provided with the type and form of handle structure illustrated, involving a unique formation on the bottle neck 12 and a free handle extending therefrom in centered overlying relation to the recess 14. Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 3, the neck 12 is shown to be formed with an outwardly projecting annulus or ring 17 tapering downwardly from an upper curved shoulder 18 to the bottom line 19 defining the ring, a distance sufiicient to assure proper and necessary strength of the handle 20 integrated therewith. Di-

rectly above the ring 17, the neck may have a reduced smooth extent 21 below the thread 13. In the embodiment of Fig. 1, the ring 17 is shown to be internally and annularly recessed at 22.

Molded and fused integrally with the neck portion 12 and ring 17 is the handle 20 which is shown to correspond in vertical thickness at the bottle neck with the ring 17, and to extend outwardly and downwardly from and as a continuation of the top surface of the ring shoulder 18. The undersurface of the handle similarly extends outwardly and downwardly from and in line with the bottom of the ring 17 as represented by line 19, the juncture of the handle surface with the bottle neck at the top of the concave recess 14 occurring at surface 23 having such curvature as to eliminate any excessively localized strains in the glass imposed by the handle-carried load. The free end extent of the handle is given sufii cient length to permit it to be grasped at the grip recesses 24 by a major portion of the fingers, so that the bottle may be carried without excessive weight on any one or more fingers.

In Fig. 1 the handle 20 is shown to be formed with a hollow interior 25 merging and opening into the annular recess 22 within the ring 17. Tests have established that by reason of the described integrated ring and handle formation, the handle whether formed solidly or hollow, has exceptional strength and resistance to breakage and under load of the filled bottle and even under shock conditions. It will be observed that by terminating the handle within the radial extent of body 10 of the bottle, the handle 20 is protected against impact from other bottles packed or arranged for display.

The handle is spaced at 26 above the concave surface of the recess 14 a distance sufficient to permit free entry of the fingers into the space to grasp the handle, but the spacing preferably also is sufficiently limited, substan-.' tially as illustrated, to permit the outer surfaces of the fingers to bear against the concave surface of the recess. Thus, the grasp of the container is stabilized not only by the ample handle grip but also by the permitted hearing against the recess surface. These conditions, together with the handle angularity, also provide for better stabilized balance of the bottle as it is being carried or manipulated, since when supported or suspended by the handle, the bottle tends to assume an angularity in accordance with the center of gravity which comes into comfortably aligned relation with the handle and recess angularities.

' Provision of the internal neck ring recess 22 has the functional advantage of rendering the bottle less likely to drip. As the bottle is being returned to an upright position after pouring, this recessed space provides a pool of liquid remaining in communication with the stream being broken at the mouth of the bottle, and thus causes a surface tension eifect tending to draw back into 4 the bottle the last drops that break from the poured stream and do not fall away from the bottle.

Fig. 4 illustrates a variational form of the invention similar in all respects to the described embodiment, except that here the ring 27 is not internally recessed but is formed solidly beyond the straight neck bore 28, and the handle 29 instead of being hollow, is fused and molded solidly throughout the neck ring.

I claim:

1. A bottle having a relatively small diameter neck and a continuing downwardly and outwardly extending shoulder curved in horizontal cross section and which continues to the body of the bottle below, a single handle integrated with said neck and extending outwardly and downwardly from a location above said shoulder and terminating in a free end below the juncture of the lower end of the neck and the shoulder, and a localized recess in the shoulder formed by a surface intersecting said curvature of the shoulder and extending from below the juncture of said handle with the neck portion concavely downwardly and outwardly in spaced relation to the overlying handle, and terminating substantially at the juncture of the shoulder with the body, said handle together with the recess being of sufficient extent to accommodate plural fingers grasping the handle, the greater mass and vertical extent of the bottle being below said recess and the bottle being unsymmetrical in the vertical plane of said recess and handle in that below said neck the shoulder configuration is generally outwardly convex in the wall opposite the recess and concave within the recess.

2. A bottle as defined by claim 1, in which said handle is formed integrally with an enlarged diameter ring portion of the neck and the vertical concavity of said recess starts below said ring portion.

3. A bottle as defined by claim 1, in which said recess is also concave horizontally and the handle has a lower substantially straight extent containing plural finger receiving recesses in its under surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 95,576 Brenner May 14, 1935 649,394 Bounette May 8, 1900 1,442,709 Walrath Jan. 16, 1923 2,307,390 Chew Jan. 5, 1943 2,521,523 Kemper Sept. 5, 1950 2,625,020 Oliver Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,983 Great Britain of 1843 8,362 Great Britain of 1886 607,046 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1948 611,590 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1948 

